Client Setup

Client Setup

Every client below launches its own container. The server speaks stdio, so the client owns the process — you are not connecting to a shared instance unless you deliberately run one over HTTP (see the bottom of this page).

-i is required in every one of these. Without it the container exits the instant it starts and the client reports the server as failed. It is the single most common setup mistake.

Claude Code

claude mcp add cyberchef -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v2:latest

Or add it to .mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cyberchef": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v2:latest"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

claude_desktop_config.json — macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows %APPDATA%\Claude\:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cyberchef": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v2:latest"]
    }
  }
}

LM Studio

LM Studio uses Cursor-compatible mcp.json notation. Edit it in-app via Program → Install → Edit mcp.json, or directly at ~/.lmstudio/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "CyberChef-MCP": {
      "command": "podman",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v2:latest"]
    }
  }
}

Use docker in place of podman if that is what you have. If LM Studio runs as an AppImage it inherits your desktop environment's PATH, so a bare podman/docker resolves — no absolute path needed.

Set the tool surface deliberately for a local model. The default (index, 28 tools, ~4,900 tokens) is usually right; all is 531 tools and ~100,000 tokens, which will swamp most locally-hosted context windows:

"args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "CYBERCHEF_TOOL_SURFACE=curated",
         "ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v2:latest"]

Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project — same shape as LM Studio's.

MCP Inspector

Useful for seeing exactly what the server advertises:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v2:latest

Running from a checkout instead of a container

git clone https://github.com/doublegate/CyberChef-MCP.git
cd CyberChef-MCP
npm install
npx grunt configTests     # generates two files the server cannot start without
npm run mcp

npx grunt configTests is not optional: src/core/config/OperationConfig.json and src/node/index.mjs are generated and deliberately not committed. Skipping it produces ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND.

One shared server for several clients

stdio gives each client its own process. If you want a single instance that several clients share, run it over HTTP:

docker run -d --name cyberchef-mcp -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 \
  -e CYBERCHEF_TRANSPORT=http \
  -e CYBERCHEF_HTTP_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e CYBERCHEF_ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost:3000,127.0.0.1:3000 \
  ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v2:latest

Note the 127.0.0.1: in front of the port mapping. A bare -p 3000:3000 publishes on every interface, and the HTTP transport has no authentication — anyone who can reach the port gets every operation. CYBERCHEF_ALLOWED_HOSTS is DNS-rebinding protection, not access control: it checks the Host header, which a direct client simply sets correctly.

If you genuinely need it reachable from another machine, put authentication in front of it (a reverse proxy with auth, an SSH tunnel, or a private network) rather than removing the loopback binding. CYBERCHEF_HTTP_HOST=0.0.0.0 binds inside the container; the published port is what decides who can reach it.

{ "mcpServers": { "cyberchef": { "url": "http://127.0.0.1:3000/mcp" } } }

CYBERCHEF_ALLOWED_HOSTS is required here because DNS-rebinding protection is on by default and only permits loopback names it already knows. Sessions are isolated per client, so several clients against one container is supported rather than merely tolerated.

There is also a socket transport — Unix domain socket or loopback TCP — from v2.3.0. See Transports for all three, and Configuration for every variable.